Monofilament lines are well known in the art and are commonly defined as strings made from a single fiber. Common examples of monofilament lines include, but are not limited to, vegetation trimmer or cutting lines, pulling lines, fishing lines, and utility lines. Such monofilament lines may be made from single component filaments or from multi-component filaments, and may be produced by any of a variety of methods known in the art, including, but not limited to, molding, extruding and/or spinning. Many types of monofilament lines are made from polymeric materials.
Typically, such monofilament lines are packaged in bulk form. That is, typically, the monofilament lines are produced as continuous lines of a single or multi-component filament that are wound or otherwise placed into containers for holding the monofilament lines. As such, the task of cutting the monofilament line to a desired length of line from the package is left to the user.
Packaging for the continuous-type monofilament line can take essentially any form known in that art, but is a typically wound onto a spool or into a box or container of some type. Such containers may be of various shapes and sizes, but serve to maintain the monofilament line in an organized, wound configuration. Many containers are commonly made of plastic and may be thermoformed or molded into any shape or size desired to contain the wound monofilament line.
One such plastic container or package commonly used for vegetation trimmer line or weed cutting line is known in the industry as a “donut package” due to the general appearance of the monofilament line that is wound within the cavity of the container. The cavity of the package, as well as the monofilament line wound within it, resembles the shape of a donut.
Many vegetation trimming and weed cutting devices use monofilament line packaged in these types of containers. Previously, this winding of the monofilament line in a package may have been considered suitable for the user since many rotating string trimmers or weed cutters used most, if not all, of the spooled continuous lengths of monofilament line by winding the line onto the spool within the head of the rotary string trimmer or weed cutting apparatus. However, one trend in the area of monofilament line for a rotating string trimmer and weed cutter is the increased usage of fixed line heads, wherein only a relatively short length of line, typically about 6 to 18 inches (about 20 cm to 40 cm), are inserted into the heads of the string trimmers or weed cutting apparatuses. Thus, some manufacturers of trimmer line or weed cutting line have begun to produce pre-packaged, short strips of monofilament line pre-cut to lengths suitable for use in these newer vegetation trimmers or weed cutting apparatuses, all at greater cost to the manufacturer and/or at higher prices to the consuming public.
Thus, the need exists for ways for provide the more economical, bulk wound continuous line packages to the consuming public in a manner that will provide the user with an easy and safe means to cut the line to the lengths desired, thereby obviating the need to provide short pre-cut strips to the consuming public.
Heretofore, users of flexible wound monofilament line packaged in plastic containers have had to use auxiliary cutting devices such as, for example, knives, scissors, blades, or wire cutters, to cut the line to a desired length. The reliance on such auxiliary cutting devices is undesirable since the user, first, must possess a cutting device suitable for and capable of cutting the monofilament line and, second, must keep the cutting device close at hand or within the proximity of the user to enable the user to cut the line at a time of convenience when needed. In addition, many cutting devices, such as knives or blades, are known to be dangerous to the user due to the exposed sharp edges of these devices.
Furthermore, scissors (and even wire cutters) often do not offer the advantages that even knifes or blades may offer in cutting the line. For instance, monofilament lines having large diameters are inherently difficult to sheer with scissors, due to the toughness of the line. This is understandable given that many monofilament lines, especially those used for vegetation trimmers or weed cutters, are made to withstand and endure abrasive and sheer forces in order to provide high performance characteristics. It is known that common scissors are not strong enough or durable enough to cut the larger diameter lines. When attempting to cut a line with scissors, the line tends to slide outwardly, away from the blades of the scissors. This, in turn, causes the user of the scissors to pull on the two ends of the line so that the line is forced into the blades of the scissors. This is an unsafe action and can lead to serious bodily injury to the user, depending upon the user's use of the scissors. Moreover, pulling on the ends of the line tends to bend the line and forces the blades of the scissors to spread apart. Thus, oftentimes, scissors will not cut the larger diameter monofilament lines. Still further, scissors with plastic handles have been known to break in the user's hand, again causing bodily injury to the user.
Therefore, the need exists for a cutting tool suitable for cutting flexible wound line that can be attached to the package for the flexible wound monofilament line. The need further exists for a cutting tool that is safe and effective in cutting all polymeric monofilament lines up to at least 0.180 inches in diameter.